We have identified four key areas related to competence in order to help our clients on projects that have significant human impacts – thus, with major social and business risks:
- Ability to challenge what is at stake (why), the way things are done (how) and the resultant outcomes (what)
- Wide-angled vision on the human and cultural factors (soft factors), and the technical and business dimension (hard factors)
- Leadership to drive and execute transformation actions
Our position as architects
To allow us to manage complex projects, we regularly engage in the following ways:
- Creation of innovative and successful transformation tools
- Operations translated into specifications
- Sourcing of reliable partners and consultants
- Project management (guidance and quality control) as well as coordination of the various stakeholders (internal and external)
Indeed, we believe that a business team alone cannot provide all the expertise and knowledge that are needed to successfully manage a complex transformation program.
Coordinating different talents and expertise is necessary to ensure the greatest success in these projects.
While ultimately seeking quality, and respecting expense minimization and time management, our logic is to direct the best resources to the right place and at the right time.
Treating the “soft” and the “hard” factors
To gain in agility, efficiency and have long-lasting results, we are convinced that an integrated approach is needed. This means integrating at the same time, and before anything else, the “soft” and the “hard”.
We believe approaches that exclusively focus on the “soft” mostly have short-term results. This means that working on team building, training, coaching, communication, removing cultural barriers etc. won’t have lasting results if the structure doesn’t tie in with each person’s journey.
On the other hand, approaches that are too focused on the ‘’hard’’, i.e. process engineering, balanced scorecards, lean etc., end up only dealing with the problems on the surface. Thus, no deep-rooted changes occur, because the cultural and human dimensions were ignored.
Our reading grids
With the help of our reading grids, we not only deal with the symptoms, but also with the deep-rooted causes. These are often invisible and unconscious.
The genuine, symbolic and imaginary barriers
Any change will have a triple meaning for the each individual.
Actions need to be taken on these three dimensions, at the same time. This will work together with the change management and allow the transformation to happen.
The barriers and levers are classified as real, imaginary and symbolic.
Identity classification of the organizations
This classification allows fast diagnoses on organizations and their systems: depending on which type the organization finds itself in, the dysfunction appears in a different manner and the approaches used need to be specifically adapted.
Staff evolutions and mental paths
We believe that the transformation of a business inevitably relies on the evolution of and change in people’s behaviors and mental images, i.e. in the way they see the world, their business, their role, their colleagues etc.
In order to carry out changes on the mental images, in order to go from image A to image B, it is necessary to work gradually through a certain number of essential intermediate stages.
The mental paths draw a map of these stages.
Physical places and work environments
Places and environments play a particularly important role as catalysts of transformations.
Today, the role of work environments is similar to that of information systems a few years ago.
Indeed, the physical work environments, or more precisely the network of work environments, need to be considered both as the recipient and the vehicle of work organizations (both individual and collective) and that of professional behaviors.
This can be interpreted in a static way (adaptation) or in a dynamic way (change or transformation lever).
